As the southern United States reeled from the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina this week, some Georgetown students with family and friends affected by the storm began a fundraising campaign to help hurricane victims in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Members of the Georgetown Southern Society set up a table in Red Square on Tuesday and began requesting donations for hurricane relief efforts from students and passersby.
“The donations that we collected . are going to the Red Cross,” Georgetown Southern Society President Hanlon DeVerges (SFS ’06) said. “If we find out from other organizations how we can help, we may expand. It kind of came on us all of a sudden.”
Georgetown administrators also announced on Thursday that the university would allow students from the Washington, D.C., area who would have been studying at Loyola University in New Orleans to take classes at Georgetown this semester.
Although only students from Loyola University, a fellow Jesuit institution, will be able to apply, administrators said that opening Georgetown’s doors to some displaced students will help.
The students must apply through an emergency cross registration program by September 6 to be eligible to temporarily attend the university this fall, according to a university press release.
“We hope that this assistance to students at our sister Jesuit institution can be a small measure of support during this difficult time and offers Loyola the opportunity to continue instruction for those from the local area,” Georgetown Provost James J. O’Donnell said in the release.
O’Donnell said that because Georgetown’s undergraduate programs are already at capacity, displaced students will only be able to take classes on a “space available basis.”
Members of the Georgetown Southern Society have been asking students to sign a volunteer list to be kept informed about future opportunities to help hurricane victims, DeVerges said. The group is hoping to organize relief trips to affected areas during winter and spring breaks this year.
DeVerges said they have also petitioned local businesses, including Booeymonger’s, Wisemiller’s, Ben and Jerry’s and Urban Outfitters, to place hurricane relief donation boxes in checkout areas.
DeVerges, a New Orleans native whose family was forced to evacuate the city and move to Minnesota this week, said that many people in areas hit by the hurricane do not know whether their homes are still intact.
“No one has any news on their homes and we’re not going to be able to get that for about a month,” he said. “The only way the Gulf South is going to get through this is by helping each other out and from support from the rest of the country. Hopefully [we’ll] have the same support we’ve had for other great tragedies like the tsunami and 9/11.”
Johnny Williams (COL ’06), also a New Orleans native, said that his brother and father stayed in the city when the hurricane passed but eventually had to leave.
“They drove around the city and everything was fine after the storm,” he said. “There was no structural damage to our house, no flooding . but the next morning a neighbor knocked on the door and said, `You guys got to get out now . the flooding is rising.'”
Williams said that being at Georgetown in the midst of the hurricane disaster is difficult.
“We kind of feel helpless because there’s not much that we can do in D.C., except not going back to New Orleans and letting the rescue efforts proceed there.”
Niels Johnsen (COL ’08) said that his New Orleans home is now flooded with more than 10 feet of water, after a nearby canal was damaged during the hurricane.
“My family is now spread out much across the south,” he said. “My dad’s side of the family is now in Baton Rouge trying [to] recover and rebuild a family shipping company based in New Orleans and heavily dependent on the port of New Orleans.”
Johnsen said that communication with his family members has been limited.
“I still haven’t been able to speak directly with my mom,” he said. “Most of what I know is filtered through my brother, who is able to speak with everyone because he has a Philadelphia area code phone.”
Some students, including Johnsen, found that their cellular telephones with southern area codes stopped working after the hurricane knocked out several cellular relay towers along the Gulf Coast.
Despite the tragedy that has struck his family and friends at home, Johnsen said that he has received a great deal of support from friends and administrators at Georgetown.
“I am getting a huge response from our campus community,” he said. “People who I thought I barely knew have constantly been coming up to me, asking me how I am, how my family is and offering their help and condolences.”
Johnsen said he remains hopeful and optimistic about the future of his hometown.
“It’s important . for people to understand that New Orleans has been, and always will be, a city of great resolve and spirit,” he said. “Despite the chaos and despair that is now widespread throughout New Orleans, in time, we will rebuild and hopefully go back to life as it was.”
Dmitry Zakharov (SFS ’08) of Mobile, Ala., said that relief work will continue for months to come.
“I hope people won’t forget about this, because a month from now, many months from now life is not going to be the same,” he said.
University spokeswoman Julie Bataille offered condolences on behalf of the university to individuals and students affected by the hurricane.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with residents of the Gulf Coast, especially our students, their families, alumni and sister Jesuit institutions there,” she said. “Georgetown officials are attempting to reach out to victims in numerous ways to offer resources and assistance to best meet their needs.”
Administrators and chaplains have been in contact with students from affected areas to offer assistance.
At Wednesday’s Mass of the Holy Spirit, Fr. Phillip Boroughs, S.J., prayed for victims of the hurricane.
“In a special way, let us pray for those who have died in the tragedies of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama,” he said. “Let us pray for those who have lost their homes, their livelihood, and at this moment it seems to them, their futures. That the compassion and love of God’s people in this country and beyond will rally to support them and help them, and that we at Georgetown will find creative ways to care for our sisters and brothers in need.”
Students will meet today at 1 p.m. in the Philodemic Room on the second floor of Healy Hall to discuss ways to garner more support for the hurricane relief effort.
“The Georgetown community, at every level, is rallying in a variety of ways to support those who have been affected by this hurricane,” Kathleen Weigert, executive director of the Center for Social Justice, said.